‘LIV thought it could buy fan interest’: Influencer with 61.8K X followers slams LIV Golf to Josh Carpenter’s positive take on PGA Tour viewership

An avid golf fan and influencer took a dig at the LIV Golf League and its viewership as the PGA Tour viewership enjoyed an uptick during the 2025 Travelers Championship. As per golf journalist Josh Carpenter's report CBS's final round coverage averaged 3.51 millions viewers during the Signature Event, a remarkable increase of 35% from last year's 2.607 million.

Following Keegan Bradley's victory at the Travelers Championship, Carpenter gave an account of the rise in viewership of the PGA Tour event as compared to its previous editions.

A golf influencer with 61.8K followers on X lauded the PGA Tour's feat in gaining viewership and slammed the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League with respect to its fanbase. In a post on X, the user shared a detailed response, writing:

"The PGA Tour continues to pummel the competition. The merger is not gonna happen. LIV thought it could buy fan interest. You can buy some players, but turns out you can't purchase fans. There wasn't a single moment where Keegan, Tommy, or the fans thought about the $$$. Real competition actually matters, it turns out. That's what the bulk of viewers want."

The final day of the Travelers Championship peaked at more than 5.4 million viewers on CBS, and the overall Signature Events viewership over the year has increased by 19%, according to the broadcaster.

---

NBC Sports producer takes a firm stand against the LIV Golf League

The fracture between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has long been ongoing. While a part of the golf world has welcomed the unique concept of LIV, the rest have criticized it for disrupting the golf landscape.

In a recent interview with Golf.com, Sam Flood, executive producer of the NBC Sports department shared his thoughts about LIV Golf and its relevance at the moment. He said:

"The LIV stuff is almost a total sideshow. The reality is, their opportunity was when the tournament happened in Doral, and they had every name on the leaderboard, and no one paid attention." "That to me said the product is not relevant in this country,” Flood concluded.

Flood referred to the LIV Golf Miami that took place in April at the Trump National Doral golf course, which averaged only about 603,000 viewers, despite big names like Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, among others being present in the field.

The negotiations for the reunification deal have been going on for quite a while now, but the parties have not reached an agreement yet. According to reports, the PGA Tour had rejected a proposal from the Public Investment Fund which backs the LIV Golf League. The apparent deal came with a $1.5 billion offer along with certain terms, which the PGA Tour reportedly rejected, deeming it 'unacceptable'.

Edited by Tushar Bahl